Nine Long Months
by silvercage
Summary: Shikamaru and Temari find themselves in quite the predicament.
1. Prologue

A/N: Ahh, I just can't help it! I love to start new stories!

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Nine Long Months

A Temari-Shikamaru Story

Prologue

Temari sat huddled in the corner of her bathroom in the fetal position, ironically enough. Her day planner was open beside her, a day some two weeks ago circled in red. A little white stick with a purple cap over on end was propped up on the counter where she could see it.

Fears: confirmed.


	2. Chapter One: Revelations

**Nine Long Months**

A Temari-Shikamaru Story

Chapter One: Revelations

Temari's heart was beating in her throat as she walked down the stark hallway that led to the Kazekage's office. She kept rearranging her sweaty palms on the mission scroll her brother had left in her room for her. She felt lightheaded and her stomach was churning (although that might be morning sickness, Temari thought bitterly); she would have to turn the mission down and explain why.

She found herself before the plain wooden door long before she wanted to. A fresh wave of nausea swept through her. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Temari steeled herself and turned the doorknob.

Inside the room, Gaara sat behind a small wooden desk, half obscured by a small mountain of paperwork and Kankuro draped himself across one of the chairs, his hood lying on his stomach as he ran his hand through his rumpled hair. Both brothers looked up when Temari entered the room. Gaara saw the scroll clasped in his sister's hands and looked up at her expectantly.

"Shouldn't you be on your mission?" he asked. Temari mumbled something, not looking up at the Kazekage. "What?" he asked impatiently.

"I can't do it," she said, shoving the scroll at her youngest brother.

"Why not?" Gaara demanded. Kankuro looked at his sister oddly; Temari never turned down missions.

Temari could feel beads of perspiration forming on her forehead. She looked from Gaara's face to Kankuro's, and then back to Gaara's. It would be had enough having one of them know. "Can I talk to you alone?" she asked the redheaded brother.

"No," Gaara snapped, starting to get angry. He had enough work to do without his sister deciding to decline A-rank missions. "Either spit it out now, or get started on your job."

Seeing that the Kazekage was getting annoyed, Temari had no choice but to spit it out, as he so elegantly put it.

"I—" Temari's words got caught in her throat. The girl tried again. "I'm pregnant."

Complete silence fell over the three siblings. Kankuro was staring at his sister with bulging eyes and his mouth agape. Gaara was giving her a look as though she might be kidding. Temari couldn't bring her eyes up to meet her brothers', and so she kept her gaze firmly on her toes.

Kankuro finally broke the silence by exclaiming "What?" Temari continued to stare at her sandals. "Who's the father?" he asked in his typical nosy way.

"Shut up," Gaara snapped at his brother before turning his attention to the blonde girl. "You are dismissed," Gaara-speak for _get out._ Temari bowed her head, turned on her heel, and left the room as quickly as she could.

Temari walked down the hall as calmly as she could and went into the first female washroom that she found, where she promptly threw up.

* * *

Temari was wrapped snuggly in her blankets, her back to the door. The curtains were drawn tight against the midday sun and the air conditioner was working double time.

Temari's green eyes were puffy, red, and out of tears, her throat was burning like the fires of hell, and her stomach felt like it had been scraped clean.

There was a soft knock at the door, but the girl ignored it. The door opened with a creak and Kankuro cautiously entered the room, a glass of cold water in his hand.

"Temari?" he called softly, "Are you awake?" His sister grunted in reply. Kankuro ventured deeper into the depths of the girl's room, sitting down on the bed beside her and handing the water to her as she sat up.

"Thanks," she said hoarsely and gulped the icy cold liquid down.

"Are you okay?" Kankuro asked rubbing Temari's back. Temari looked at him as if he was an idiot. "Right, stupid question." There was a long awkward pause. "Does he know?" Kankuro finally asked. Temari shook her head no. "Are you going to tell him?" Temari bit her lip and didn't look at her brother. "You should tell him," Kankuro pressed on, "If I were in his sandals, I'd want to know."

"There's really no point," Temari said heavily, "He'd probably just find the whole thing too troublesome."

It took a minute for the word to sink in. "Oh, no," Kankuro said in a half disgusted voice, "_Him?_" The girl nodded her head. "How long have—"

"It only happened once," Temari cut him off, "When I was in Konoha five weeks ago."

"I don't believe this," Kankuro muttered, pulling off his hood and running his hands through his hair.

"Try being on my end of it," Temari countered, "I'm the one with the short end of the stick. It wasn't a one night stand," Temari continued, "At least, I don't think it was. We talk a lot when I go there. We tried writing letters, but he was too lazy to write back."

Kankuro gritted his teeth. "I'm going to kill him."

Temari gave her brother a severe look. "Kankuro, I swear, I you tell a single person, even—no, _especially_ Gaara, I _will_ take my fan to you."

* * *

Shikamaru stood before the Fifth Hokage, his usual expression of distaste evident on his face. He had been summoned for a special mission; it sounded troublesome.

Tsunade handed the chuunin a scroll and gave the sixteen-year-old a penetrating glare. "You're services have been specially requested by the Kazekage. You are to travel to Sunagakure and remain there until you are no longer needed. Understood?"

Shikamaru nodded his head, took the scroll and left the room.

It sounded _very_ troublesome.

* * *

Shikamaru traveled through forest, to scrubland, to desert with nothing to define one day from the next. He had to admit that it felt good to travel alone, without pesky students making comments and remarks at every turn. The only bad thing was the knowledge that ahead of him waited Suna, and with it, some very troublesome work.

The walls of the city came into view on the third day, around noon. After showing his pass to the guards at the gate and getting directions to the Kazekage's office, Shikamaru strolled slowly down the streets of the Hidden Sand Village, enjoying the quiet of the deserted streets.

Of course, they were empty for a reason. The sun was at its height, beating down upon the Konoha chuunin, making him liven his pace to reach the Kazekage's building faster. Finding his way through the narrow hallways of the building, Shikamaru found the door labeled "Kazekage-sama." He knocked and heard a voice tell him to enter.

The second the door swung open, Shikamaru found himself enveloped in sand, squeezing the breath out of his lungs.

"Gaara, stop!" a voice cried. The sand stopped moving, and then dropped away, leaving Shikamaru to bend double, choking in air. However, this moment was short lived, because a second later, two strong hands grabbed onto the collar of the boy's shirt and slammed him against a wall.

"I'm going to kill you, you bastard!" Kankuro shouted, slamming Shikamaru against the wall again for good measure.

"What the hell is going on?" a female voice demanded. Temari (luckily for Shikamaru) had just shown up bring her brothers some lunch and had walked in just before the maiming could begin. She caught sight of the unfortunate victim, and her heart skipped a beat. But being pregnant, her mood shifted faster than a traffic light. Her furious gaze fell on the older of her two brothers.

"I didn't tell him," Kankuro jerked his head back towards Gaara, who was standing in front of his desk with a murderous look in his eyes, "He just knew."

Temari clenched her teeth and threw the two neatly wrapped lunches at Kankuro's chest. She took Shikamaru's hand and roughly led him out of the building.

Once they were out on the street, Temari dropped the boy's hand and stormed off in the direction of her home. Still suffering from his original shock, he began to chase after the blonde haired girl. He caught her arm and spun her around. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, still angry.

"I was summoned," Shikamaru defended himself, "By your darling little brother. Speaking of which, what the hell was that all about?"

Temari's anger subsided and was replaced by a sinking feeling in her stomach. She turned and continued on her way, Shikamaru trailing her like a lost puppy. The mansion was not far from the Kazekage's office, and the two reached it in no time. Temari opened the door and led the dark haired shinobi into the living room.

"There is something we need to talk about," she said with a defeated tone in her voice.

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A/N: Review, my pretties, review! 


	3. Chapter Two: Excuse Me?

**Nine Long Months**

A Temari-Shikamaru Story

Chapter Two: Excuse Me?

Shikamaru literally fell out of his chair.

"Don't be so stupid," Temari scolded. The boy on the floor could only stare at the blonde woman standing with her hands on the table, her head low with her bangs covering half her face. "I don't relish in the idea of being in this situation either."

After a few awkward moments, Shikamaru pulled himself up off the ground and back into his chair. He to looked at Temari's face, but she would not take her eyes off the table. Shikamaru's eyes drifted down to her stomach. He tried to picture it growing, expanding like a balloon, but the image would not form itself in his mind.

"What are you going to do?" he finally asked.

Temari's head shot up and she glared at the boy with fire in her eyes. "What do you mean, what am _I _going to do?" she demanded, her voice dangerously low, "We are in this together."

Shikamaru realized what he had just said. "That's not the way I meant it," he said as a sort of apology, "I meant are you going to, you know, give bir—_have_ it?" Shikamaru had never had a more awkward conversation.

Temari subconsciously placed a hand on her stomach. She took in a sharp breath to speak, but let it go through her teeth. She pulled out a chair and sat down, running a hand through the bits of hair that had fallen out of their respective bunches. "I…don't know. I don't feel like I have the authority to make this decision alone. It's half yours after all."

Shikamaru regarded the girl for a minute before picking his words carefully. "I don't want you to feel any pressure from me. Your body; your decision. You have my full support, no matter what you choose to do." Temari nodded her head but didn't say anything. Her eyebrows were slightly contracted, an almost pained expression on her face. She mumbled something under her breath. "Huh?" Shikamaru grunted.

"I," Temari began, faltering, "I always wanted to be a mom."

"So that's your decision, then?" Shikamaru asked, taking a cautious glance at the blonde. She nodded her head slowly. "Okay," he said reassuringly.

Silence fell once more.

"My brothers want you dead, you know," Temari said, just to break the silence.

"I noticed," Shikamaru replied, and the two chuckled together.

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Kankuro raced home as soon as the Kazekage would let him leave. The sun was very low in the sky, casting long shadows across the street, which didn't put the puppeteer in a better mood.

He burst through the front door and immediately noticed the foul smell in the air; Temari had obviously attempted to cook again. A smirk crossed Kankuro's paint-streaked face. Perhaps the boy had already been punished. His sick hopes were shattered when he looked into the living room and saw empty cartons of take-out.

More aggravating still was the sight of his sister and _that boy_ sleeping together, Temari's head resting on shadow boy's chest and his arm around her waist.

_He was some nerve,_ the puppeteer thought grimly. He had half a mind to wake them up and let the boy have a piece of his mind, but the other half told him that if he did, Temari would have his head on a platter.

Grumbling to himself, Kankuro made his way up the stairs to his room and slammed the door.

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Shikamaru snapped out of his slumber when he heard a door slam somewhere in the house. He kept his eyes closed and tried to roll over, but a weight on his chest stopped him. Temari had made herself comfortable on the Leaf chuunin, draping half of her body over his. Shikamaru slowly pushed Temari's thick bangs out of her eyes, carefully studying her face. Her skin had a very light tan to it, courtesy of living her life under the harsh desert sun, and a small frown was tugging at the corners of her mouth. Shikamaru let the girl's hair fall back into place and he dropped his hand to his side.

What a troublesome situation to find oneself in at sixteen. Shikamaru had planned on having children, but not for a good ten years or so. It was mind-boggling to think that Temari would be the mother of his child as well. He had had a crush on her since the chuunin exams when he was twelve, but he never imagined such circumstances. Geography was another problem; neither shinobi was about to leave their home village without putting up a fight, and Konoha and Suna weren't exactly around the corner from each other. Shikamaru gently lifted the slumbering girl off of his chest and placed some cushions from the couch where his body had been, keeping Temari propped up.

Shikamaru moved to the large window that faced the bare front yard and the street beyond, clouded in darkness. His thoughts ebbed and flowed within his mind, swelling, crashing, and retreating in turn. Scenarios, possibilities, worries, and images rushed and tumbled and melded together, crowding Shikamaru's head until he felt there was no more room. Then everything would pull away, leaving nothing but empty, echoing, blank spaces.

Shikamaru was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the Kazekage pass through the gate and walk up the path. In fact, he wasn't even snapped out of his trance until the front door snapped shut. Gaara walked by the open door of the living room. Shikamaru turned to face him, expecting the sand nin to stop, either give him a good talking to or a good beating. However, Gaara just kept walking, barley flicking his eyes towards the shadow boy. After a short pause, another door within the house thumped shut.

Temari's eyes flickered open as a groan escaped from her. "Who the hell keeps slamming doors shut?" she demanded groggily.

"Don't worry about," Shikamaru said, crossing over to the couch and squatting down to look Temari in the eye, "Go back to sleep."

The kunoichi nodded and closed her eyes once more. Shikamaru stayed where he was, carefully studying Temari's face. The muscles were relaxed in her current state, but there were thin lines, barely visible, in between her brows. Worry lines. Shikamaru lightly ran a finger over them, then traced a line to Temari's honey coloured hair. He took a few strands and rolled them back and forth between his fingers, feeling their rough texture. Temari wasn't the type of girl to use conditioner.

Temari inclined her head towards the Leaf chuunin and half-opened her eyes. "Shikamaru," she said softly.

"Yeah," he replied, moving his hand away from her face.

"I…I don't feel so well." No sooner had the words escaped her mouth than a wave of nausea swept through Temari's stomach. She clamped a hand over her mouth and made a dash for the nearest washroom, knocking Shikamaru over in the process.


	4. Chapter Three: Breakfast and Lunch

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the uber long wait. The good new is: I have finally finished the first draft of my novel! Yes! Victory is mine! Anyway, thanks for waiting (you guys r so much more patient than most of the people who read some of my other stories).

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**Nine Long Months**

A Temari-Shikamaru Story

Chapter Three: The Difference Between Breakfast and Lunch

_Shikamaru leaned back in his seat. He absently wiped a bead of sweat off of his forehead. Konoha summers weren't meant to be this hot; it was head to breathe, even the air conditioned rooms of Hokage Tower. To make matters worse, the pile of paperwork seemed like it would never disappear. Shikamaru wondered how, after so many years of holding the chuunin exam, it still took so long to register a foreign team._

_Temari sat across the small table, filling out forms like a fiend. Her four pigtails drooped from the humidity. Finishing the small stack of papers she had taken from her pile, she allowed herself a moment's brake to rub her sore neck._

_Shikamaru's eyes watching her hand knead the cramped muscles under her skin. Temari stopped and reached for another pile of sheets when she noticed a pair of black eyes on her. Their eyes met._

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Breakfast the next morning was an awkward affair. Temari cheerfully _insisted_ on cooking and nearly levelled the house when objections reached her ears. Thus, half an hour later, the kunoichi emerged victorious (and looking somewhat dishevelled) from the kitchen, which was exuding a suspicious looking smog. As Temari dished out her version of scrambled eggs (Shikamaru tried not to guess what the orange bits were) Kankuro was making a valiant attempt to bore a hole into the side of the leaf shinobi's head. As if it were his fault they were being subjected to Temari's cooking. 

Once everyone was served, Temari sat down and picked up her fork. She was about to take a bite when she noticed the other three had not touched their breakfast. The cheery look was gone from her face. "Well?" she demanded sharply. Everyone picked up their forks.

Shikamaru's eyes felt dry and itchy. He hadn't slept at all the night before; instead, he had paced back and forth, trying to force his brain to come up with some kind of plan, some course of action. He knew he had an obligation to stay in Suna (secretly, part of him _wanted_ to), but the Hokage had expected him back within a fortnight. He knew he couldn't just stay in the Wind Country without a special visa, but to get that he would have to have the Hokage, as well as the Kazekage, sign for it. Tsunade would demand answers. Shikamaru didn't want all of Konoha to know about…the situation until—not yet, at any rate. So there was no getting around it…

In between bites of the noxious eggs (Kankuro was still openly glaring, like a toad—with face paint) Shikamaru cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him oddly; it seemed they didn't have conversations during meals.

"I need to go back to Konoha," he began quietly. Temari dropped her fork. "Just for a day, plus the travel," he added quickly. "I'll need to get some of my stuff together, and Tsunade-sama will need to sign a visa for me."

Everyone was silent.

"When will you be leaving?" Gaara finally spoke up, his face and voice devoid of any trace of emotion.

"The sooner I leave, the soon I'll get back," Shikamaru answered.

Gaara nodded. "I will sign your visa when you get back." The Kazekage pushed his chair out and stood up. He gave his breakfast a last contemptuous glance and left for work.

Figuring it was okay if the leader of the village did it, Shikamaru pushed his plate away and got up to leave as well.

"You can't just leave," Temari nearly shrieked.

"I'll be right back," Shikamaru said. He felt a little guilty, but it had to be done.

"I'll come with you, then," Temari stood up.

"No," he replied firmly, "You won't be able to keep up without putting yourself and the baby in danger. And there is always the chance of running into missing nins. It's not safe."

Temari's face grew red with anger. "I'm pregnant, not disabled."

Shikamaru sighed. "You haven't even seen a doctor yet, have you?" Temari didn't answer. "You should do that before anything else. I'll be back in a week, okay?"

Temari didn't say anything but instead looked down at her sandals. Seeing that she wasn't about to say anything, Shikamaru headed towards the living room where he had left his travel pack. A minute later the front door opened and then closed again.

"Fuck!" Temari screamed and shoved her plate across the table with so much force that it skidded across the table and shattered on the ground, taking Gaara's plate with it. She threw herself down in her seat and put her head down, cradled by her arms. She sobbed openly.

Kankuro shifted his chair closer to his sister's and gently rubbed her back. "He'll be back, Tem," he said softly.

"He said he wouldn't leave," Temari choked out.

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Shikamaru had just stepped over the threshold when he heard something smash inside the house. He was tempted to turn around and go back inside, but he knew he couldn't. He sighed and went on his way.

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Temari moped around the house for a few hours. She switched periodically from despair to fury, crying and stomping around the house. More than one door was slammed. Kankuro had gotten out of the warpath as quickly as he could, and he had never been happier to be on his way to work. 

After a (long) while, Temari was too exhausted to continue on her diatribe. She knew that there was no way she could keep it up for a week. What she needed was something to do. Normally, she would train to her heart's content and her muscles' extent, but that wasn't an option anymore. She needed something to occupy her time. She glanced down at her watch and saw that it was a little past eleven. In idea clicked in her mind. She would make lunch for Gaara and Kankuro and deliver it to their offices.

Temari went into the kitchen and began to rummage around in the fridge.

* * *

Temari's team of genins, Meiko, Takeshi, and Nobu, as well as Kankuro had been summoned to the private office of the Kazekage. The puppeteer glanced down at the little brats. He didn't like kids much. 

Gaara sat behind his desk and glared at the four shinobi standing before him. He didn't like kids much, either.

"Team," he looked down at the open file on his desk beside his official hat, "Three, you are—" The Kazekage was interrupted by a knock at his door. He groaned; despite turning over a new leaf four years ago, Gaara was still not a social creature. "What?" he barked out, causing the genins and his brother to jump a foot in the air.

The door was pushed open a little and Temari stuck her head around. "I brought—" she stopped when she noticed who else was in the room. She came in all the way, two bento boxes in her arms. "What's going on?" Five heads turned towards the leader of the country.

Gaara cleared his throat. "As I was saying," he went on, "Team three is now under the command of Kankuro. Dismissed."

There was a chorus of "What!" from the genins, mixed with a "No!" from Kankuro and Temari, most enraged of all, shrieking "Kankuro can't have my team!"

The genins were onboard with their sensei and let forth a loud babble in support.

Kankuro looked offended by his sister's statement and put his hands on his hips. "I can handle these brats," he declared defiantly, ignoring the three kids altogether.

"The hell you can!" challenged Takeshi.

"You probably couldn't handle washing your own socks," Meiko snarled.

"I don't wear socks, kid," Kankuro retorted. In his mind he had the upper hand.

"She didn't mean it literally," Nobu rolled his eyes.

It continued in such a fashion for some minutes. Gaara sat in his chair with his head in his hand. This was worse than imagined.

"You can't do this," Temari finally turned to her youngest brother.

"I can and I will," he answered, sitting up straight.

"Why isn't Temari-sensei our teacher anymore?" Meiko asked the Kazekage indignantly.

"Because she got knocked up," Kankuro reported. Temari whacked him over the head with one of the bentos.

"Must you tell the whole world?" she screamed into Kankuro's ear.

"Who did it?" Takeshi asked.

"That's none of your business," Temari chided, bright red.

"I don't want him to be my teacher," Nobu said, sizing up the middle Sand sibling.

"Me neither," Meiko and Takeshi agreed at the same time.

"He isn't suited for a team," Temari pleaded with her little brother.

Gaara cleared his throat again. He picked up his hat off of his desk and rammed it down on his head. It sat at a comical angle with tufts of red hair sticking out underneath. "Last time I checked," he said menacingly, "_I_ was the Kazekage of the Wind country. As such, starting tomorrow, Team Three's new leader is Kankuro. _Dismissed_."

Everybody filed out of the office, muttering either to themselves or amongst each other. Temari was the last to leave. She was about to close the door behind her when she remembered her bento boxes. She stomped back into the office and slammed them down on Gaara's desk and then proceeded to slam the door behind her with such force that the window on the opposite wall shook.

Gaara looked down at the neatly wrapped boxes. His stomach growled. He was too pissed at the moment to venture out into society and he was starving after skipping breakfast. Resentfully, he untied the cloth around one of the bentos and removed the lid. Surprisingly, the food resembled, well, food. He tentatively picked up the chopsticks and brought a morsel of food up to his mouth. He braced himself and quickly ate it. It tasted like food, too.

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A/N: And there you have it! Sorry for those of you who were waiting to see Shikamaru's mom disembowel him in this chapter. It will be in the next one, I promise.

Please review!


	5. Chapter Four: The Nara Kitchen

**Nine Long Months**

A Temari-Shikamaru Story

Chapter Four: The Nara Kitchen

Shikamaru stood at the wooden gate of his parents' house. Despite the warmth of the midday sun on his neck, a chill ran down his spine.

_It's going to be okay,_ he told himself, swallowing the lump in his throat as he fingered the visa in his pocket. _All you have to do is sneak in, get some clothes, and sneak out. She won't even have to know you were there. You can send a letter by eagle once you are safely in Suna again. It's going to be okay._

At that moment, the door swung open.

"Shikamaru, why are you standing outside?" a voice from within called. Shikamaru felt like a Choji-sized weight had been lifted off his chest. It was his father.

"Where's mom?" Shikamaru asked hesitantly, his hand hovering over the latch on the gate.

"She went to the grocery store," his father replied with a yawn, "She'll be gone for at least an hour."

"Oh," Shikamaru replied and yawned as well. He unlocked the gate and wandered up the path to the front door. "I need to get some clothes. I'm staying in Suna for a while."

"I'll tell your mother you stopped by," the elder Nara said and meandered off towards his bed.

Shikamaru went up to his room, stuffed some clothes in a leather pack and went back down to the street. Looking up at the sun, he guessed it was a little after one o'clock.

"I suppose I should be going," he muttered to himself, and then pulled out his magical wand and teleported himself back to Suna.

**A/N:** Haha, you fell for it! As if I would deprive you so after an eternity of not updating. Here's the real chapter:

Shikamaru stood at the wooden gate of his parents' house. Despite the warmth of the midday sun on his neck, a chill ran down his spine.

_It's going to be okay,_ he told himself, swallowing the lump in his throat as he fingered the visa in his pocket. _All you have to do is sneak in, get some clothes, and sneak out. She won't even have to know you were there. You can send a letter by eagle once you are safely in Suna again. It's going to be okay._

At that moment, the door swung open.

"Shikamaru, why are you standing outside?" a voice from within called. Shikamaru felt like a Choji-sized weight had been dropped on his head. It was his mother, Yoshino, the last person he had hoped to greet him at the door.

Shikamaru looked up to the sky, hoping against hope that something would come out of the blue to save him. Nothing did.

"Hurry up and come inside," his mother harped, "Your chores aren't going to do themselves."

Normally, Shikamaru would have grumbled something along the lines of "How troublesome," but he was not under normal circumstances. He fumbled with the latch on the gate, his fingers feeling heavy and stiff. With every step that brought him closer to the front door he could feel his impending doom drawing nigh. He crossed the threshold and closed the door behind him. He could hear his mother in the kitchen, scolding his father about something or other. Another lump had formed in his throat. Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped into the room.

"Hurry up and get something to eat," his mother barked over her shoulder as she furiously scrubbed at a plate in the sink. Shikaku was sitting at the table, picking at the remains of his lunch. "The fence around the deer enclosure has been damaged. After you fix it, one of the old bucks has an injured leg, so it needs to be brought in to the barn—"

"I can't stay long," Shikamaru cut her off. "I'm going back to Suna as a liaison. I just came to get some of my things."

"You were just in Suna," Yoshino said, turning around to face him. She was drying a dish with a small towel. "Why are they making you go back?"

"You can turn down missions, you know," Shikaku said, leaning back in his chair, "You need to rest in order to be useful to the village."

"I've already accepted it," Shikamaru said, looking down at his sandals, "I have to go."

"You don't _have_ to—"

"No, I do." Shikamaru kept his eyes firmly on his feet.

"Why?" his mother asked suspiciously.

Shikamaru scratched the back of his neck nervously. "There's this girl, Temari—"

"The Sand jounin from the exams?" his father interjected, "The one you were working with?"

"Yeah. Well, we—Some things…happened, and she's—" the word seemed to be caught in his throat "She's pregnant." He went on, ignoring the sound of the plate smashing on the tile floor. "We talked about it, and we are going to go through with it. That's why I requested to be stationed in Suna."

He chanced a look. His father's fork had been stopped halfway to his mouth. His mother's face was completely red.

"You talked about it?" Yoshino asked in a deathly quiet voice. Shikamaru nodded silently. "And what was there to talk about!" she demanded; the damn had crumbled. "You're sixteen! You're too young to have a child! You're supposed to be smart, and you go and pull a stunt like this? What were you thinking?" Yoshino's face was contorted in fury.

"It was a mistake," Shikamaru said feebly, staring down at his feet again.

Yoshino crossed the kitchen and stood in front of her son. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She brought her hand up and backhanded Shikamaru as hard as she could. He didn't make a move to stop her.

"Get out," Yoshino hissed, "Get out of my house, _now._"

Shikamaru glanced at his father. He hung his head and turned to leave.

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Shikaku sat down in the booth across from his son. He handed Shikamaru a large leather pack, stuffed full of clothes and weapons.

"Thanks," Shikamaru muttered. The barbeque restaurant was full; it was hard to hear over all of the chatter.

"Your mother is quite upset," Shikaku said nonchalantly, throwing a slab of meat on the grill in the middle of the table. Shikamaru nodded mutely. "I know what you're thinking," his father declared, "And no, she doesn't hate you."

"Just disappointed, right?" Shikamaru said half-sarcastically.

"You'll understand," his father chuckled while scratching at his scar, "You'll be a parent in no time. Besides, she won't stay mad at you forever. You're her only child, after all."

"I had no idea what I was supposed to do," Shikamaru confessed, putting his head in his hands. A dull ache had formed behind his eyes. "When Temari told me, I froze. Did we make the right decision?"

"I don't know," his father answered truthfully. "It's a complex issue. There's more to it than just right and wrong." He flipped the beef onto its other side. "It may seem like it now, but fatherhood isn't all that scary. You'll get used to it."

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The second Temari opened the door and smelt the musty, hot air of the book shop she had more than half a mind to close it again. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her quietly. The attendant sitting behind the desk didn't look up at her.

She wandered through the stacks, reading the labels above. She found the parenting section near the back. She glowered at the titles of the books: _Everything You Need to Know About Pregnancy; Creating the Ideal Prenatal Environment; You and Your Baby; So, You're Pregnant?_

_Obviously_, Temari hissed back in her mind, _why else would I be standing here?_ She was still in a foul mood. Gaara, as Kazekage of the Wind Country, had officially ordered her to see a doctor. All he did was tell her that she was six weeks pregnant (she could have told him that; it had only happened once) and take some blood for tests. One of the nurses had suggested that she do some reading at home.

Temari walked along the length of the shelf, glaring at all of the pastel covers. She didn't see when she knocked into some one.

"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time. The woman was about the same age as Temari, with long blue-black hair and hazel eyes.

"It was my fault," she said apologetically, "Please forgive me."

"No, I wasn't watching where I was going," Temari responded, bowing slightly.

"I'm Sachiko," the woman said with a smile.

"Temari."

"How far along are you?" Sachiko asked cheerily.

Temari was about to ask how she knew, until she remembered what section of the shop she was standing in. "Six weeks," she replied shortly; she didn't feel all that comfortable discussing it with a stranger.

"I'm at eight," Sachiko beamed. Temari noticed a plain wedding band on her finger. "I'm so excited about being a mom. We had been trying for a year, and now it's finally happened!"

_At least some one his happy,_ Temari thought ruefully.

"Are you in any classes?" Sachiko pressed on.

"Classes?" Temari asked, thoroughly confused, "For what?"

"Prenatal care, birthing, things like that," Sachiko answered as if everyone should know such things.

"They teach those things?"

"Of course!"

Sachiko seemed to go on forever; it seemed like she had already read the entire parenting section. She told Temari where to sign up for baby classes and tried to get her to go to one. She left a while later. Temari picked out a few books and paid for them, leaving as quickly as she could before running into any more deranged mothers-to-be.

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Temari stayed up late that night, reading about everything she needed to know about pregnancy. There was a gentle knock at her door.

"Come in," she called, not looking up from her book.

The door opened with a click and Kankuro walked in, looking decidedly haggard.

"How was _my_ team?" she asked, a bitter edge in her voice.

"They're a bunch of spoiled brats," he spat. Temari nodded. "How are you feeling?" he asked seriously, sitting at the foot of her bed.

"Nauseous," she replied.

"I would too after looking at all those gross pictures," Kankuro said, peering over the top of the books he was reading.

"I'll have you know that that is what your niece looks like right now," Temari said and snapped the volume shut.

"Niece?"

"I think it's a girl," Temari said, looking down at her stomach.

"You do realized that now that you've said it, you're going to have a boy, don't you?" Kankuro raised a painted-on eyebrow. "Shadow boy should be back tomorrow," he remarked with a snarl.

"Hn."

Kankuro looked at her from the corner of his eye. She was looking out the gap in her curtains.

"Kankuro?" Temari looked at him.

"What?"

"Do you think I'll be a good mother?" she asked quietly. She fiddled with a thread that had come out of her bedspread.

"Where'd that question come from all of a sudden?" Kankuro asked.

"I don't really know what I'm supposed to do," Temari mumbled, "I don't remember what mother was like at all. I never really got to see some one else do it. How am I supposed to know what to do? What am I going to do if I screw this up?"

Kankuro scooted up the bed until he was sitting right beside his sister. He pulled her into a hug and patted her back. "Don't worry, Tem," he said reassuringly, "You'll do great; you're good at everything." _Except cooking._

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**A/N:** I have a feeling the format of this is going to come out all weird...if it does, I'll have to reupload it. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it! And in my own defense, I had a hard time writing t his because I had to work forty-six and a half hours this week. That's right, FORTY-SIX AND A HALF! And I died. But then I came back to update. Yay!


	6. Chapter Five: Telephone

**A/N:** Hello again, one and all. Sorry for the wait.

* * *

**Nine Long Months**

A Shikamaru-Temari Story

Chapter Five: Telephone

It was early afternoon when Shikamaru returned. He reached up to knock on the door, but decided to see if she had left it unlocked for him. She had. The house was completely silent. Shikamaru was exhausted after two trips from Konoha in less than a fortnight and decided to dump his pack on the floor of the guestroom he had been assigned on his previous stay and sleep for a long while. He was half startled when he walked into the dining room to see that Temari was reading quietly at the head of the table, chewing placidly on an apple.

"How'd it go?" she asked, setting her book aside.

"My mom kicked me out of the house," he said, holding his bag by the strap and standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Oh," Temari replied simply.

Fatigue was pulling at Shikamaru's eyelids, but he knew that he couldn't just walk out of the room. Even though her eyes did not digress from their endless right-to-left path, Shikamaru could feel that she seemed to be expecting something from him.

"Do you want to go spar?" she asked suddenly.

Shikamaru was caught off guard. "What?"

"There's tons of room in the back yard," she said, getting up. "I'll get my fan."

"You can't spar," Shikamaru said as if it were the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard (and he _had_ had Ino on his genin team), "You're pregnant."

Temari gave him a glare and plopped back down in her seat. "That's what Kankuro said, too," she muttered. There was a pause and Shikamaru shifted his pack to his other shoulder. "Do you want to do something else, then?" she asked, sitting up straight, "Are you hungry? I could make you something."

"No, thanks," Shikamaru replied; he knew what she was looking for. "We can go somewhere later, if you want." The offer worked like a charm.

"Where do you want to go?" Temari asked, trying to mask her excitement.

Inwardly, Shikamaru thought "I don't care," but he said "You choose. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when you want to leave."

"Okay," Temari said cheerily and resumed her book.

* * *

Shikamaru was shaken awake much too soon. Luckily, Temari's chipper mood had lingered. Shikamaru didn't remember her being quite so troublesome back in Konoha. Perhaps pregnancy had gone to her head. 

The Leaf nin dragged himself out of bed (he had slept fully dressed, as to save time) and fixed his hair when Temari told him to. She wasn't overly dressed, which he took to mean that they weren't going to an expensive restaurant. Temari practically skipped down the stairs. Something wasn't right.

"Where are we going?" Shikamaru asked suspiciously.

"It's a surprise," Temari answered teasingly.

* * *

"Naruto, bug off!" Sakura shouted, "Some of us have work to do, you know!" She would have given the hyperactive ninja a super-human strength smack upside the head if her arms were not laden down with huge medical scrolls. 

"Come on, Sakura-chan," Naruto pleaded at the top of his lungs, "It's almost lunch time. Let's go get some ramen! Please!"

"No," Sakura sad through gritted teeth, "Because you'll make me pay again." Naruto didn't say anything; she was right.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Naruto asked in his version of a quiet voice.

Some one could clearly be heard yelling. It sounded like it was coming from the Hokage's office. Naruto began to sneak down the corridor towards the door, which had been left ajar by some convenient coincidence.

"Naruto!" Sakura hissed, "Don't spy on Tsunade-sama!"

"Shh!" Naruto hushed her. Sakura crept closer to him, intent on pulling him away by the ear. She stopped, however, when she heard what was being shouted inside the room.

"—he should be recalled immediately!" It was Shikamaru's mother.

"He specifically requested being placed in Suna, Yoshino-san," Tsunade said calmly.

"Shikamaru isn't old enough to be making these kinds of decisions! How could you approve his request?" Yoshino's voice was shrill.

"Normally, I would not have," Tsunade was clearly trying to hold onto the last shreds of her patience. "However, there are some extenuating circumstances. He is old enough to accept his responsibilities."

"But surely—"

"Yoshino-san," Tsunade cut her off firmly, "This is not an official matter. It is a personal one. I will not recall Shikamaru from Suna. If he chooses to return on his own, then I will approve it. Whether you like it or not, they have made their decision."

"They are too young to be having a child!" Yoshino growled.

"There is nothing you or I can do about it," Tsunade's voice began to rise, "You would be better to talk this over with your son and Temari. You are dismissed."

If Naruto's jaw had hit the ground, Sakura's had fallen into the basement. They traded glances.

"We shouldn't tell anybody—" Sakura began to say, but Naruto had already taken off.

"OH MY GOD!" he screamed as he burst forth from the front do off the Hokage Tower. "OH MY GOD!" he bellowed as he took the street ten feet at a time.

Ino and Choji were sitting at a café table on the sidewalk.

"I CANT'T BELIEVE IT!" Naruto yelled as he sprinted down the street, "SHIKAMARU KNOCKED HER UP!"

Ino's head whipped around. "What did he say?" she asked. "Shikamaru would never do something like that." Choji shrugged and stuffed a croissant in his mouth.

At that moment, Sakura went flying past the café as well. "Naruto!" she shouted. "Shut up!"

"Let's go, Choji!" Ino commanded and ran after Sakura.

"But…the bill," Choji said. He stood for a minute, brows knitted in indecision. He reached into his pouch, pulled out some money and left it on the table before tearing after Ino.

"OH MY GOD!" Naruto continued. "SHIKAMARU AND TEMARI!"

"I wonder what he's so excited about," Hinata said. She and her team mates were on the sidewalk.

Akamaru barked. "I knew it!" Kiba said and pumped his fist in the air, "I knew they'd hook up!"

"Look," Hinata said and pointed down the street. Sakura ran past them, shouting for Naruto to stop. She was followed by Ino, who was followed by Choji. "How strange," Hinata remarked.

"Alright!" Kiba said, "It's a race!" He took his place in the procession, Akamaru at his heels.

Hinata looked from the dust-cloud that was the other shinobi in the distance to Shino. He shrugged. Hinata went after Kiba. Shino turned around and went home.

"OH MY GOD!"

Naruto ran straight into Iruka, knocking him to the ground.

"Hey," Iruka said, "Watch out, Naruto, you'll hurt some one." He then noticed that his former student was foaming at the mouth. "What's wrong?"

The blond grabbed him by the shoulders. "IRUKA-SENSEI! I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted, arriving just in time to deal him a punch to the side of the face. He went flying through the air and did a face-plant on the road.

"Why can't you be more discreet?" she howled at him.

She stood panting, and within seconds, all of the chasers had arrived.

"What the hell is going on?" Ino asked.

* * *

Shikamaru had been chewed up by the teeth of hell, swallowed, digested, and currently found himself in the very bowels of the devil. It was called the Suna Community Centre. Temari's idea of a good time was a prenatal care class. A class that met once a week for two months. 

Seven other couples sat in a circle on plastic chairs. They all looked to be in their twenties and thirties. Most were beaming and hold hands.

Shikamaru sighed and hunkered down in his chair. The instructor was a middle aged woman who spoke as if she were teaching a group of particularly slow five-year-olds how to tie their shoes. Temari was scribbling down every word that she said in a notebook balanced on her knee. She glanced over at Shikamaru, clearly telling him to be quiet. He straightened himself in his chair and tried to look like he was listening. He caught the part about hormones and a heightened emotional state.

After the two hours of torture, the class was adjourned, but coffee was offered. No one left. Shikamaru and Temari stood off to the corner, unsure of how to approach such strange creatures as the expecting parents.

"Let's leave," Shikamaru suggested.

"Stop whining," Temari hissed. "I want to meet other pregnant women."

"Why?"

"Shut up, some one's coming."

It was a woman with blue-black hair, dragging a tall, dark-haired man by the arm.

"Temari!" she chirped. "It's so good to see you again." She hugged Temari.

"Uh, hi Sachiko," Temari managed to get out. She wasn't used to being embraced by nearly-complete strangers.

"This is my husband, Satoshi," Sachiko said, shoving the man forward a step. He had a Suna forehead protector. He saw Shikamaru's; his upper lip twitched.

Temari nodded and said nothing. Sachiko's gaze flicked to Shikamaru.

"Oh, right," Temari said. "This is Shikamaru."

"You guys look kind of young to be married," Sachiko said.

"We're not," Shikamaru said.

"Oh," Sachiko said, but kept her smile up. "So have you set a date?"

"We're not—" Temari started to say.

"Oh," Sachiko said quietly. They all stood awkwardly for a moment before Sachiko excused herself and Satoshi.

Temari kept here eyes on the remnants of her coffee. Shikamaru shifted from foot to foot.

"Let's go," he said. Temari nodded.


End file.
